All's Fare in Love and War
by TheNotoriousNovelist
Summary: AU: The year's 1943 and Zatanna is an army nurse who's gone to England to help injured soldiers. While there, she's assigned to help Private Richard Grayson recover from surgery. Initially, he's less than cooperative but, when feelings develop between them, they both learn to smile... even in times of war.
1. Chapter 1: A New Start

**All research was done on Wikipedia so blame them for any historical inaccuracies :}**

**I tried to do my usual thing of writing a prologue but I just couldn't write anything I was happy with. For that reason, I'm just going to jump right into this one.**

**I mean no insult to any German people reading this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.**

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><p><span>All's Fare in Love and War<span>

Chapter 1:

A New Start

After all those years, Zatanna still remembered the smell of the ocean and the sea spray in her face as she sailed on the boat. She had wanted to be an army nurse since the start of the war but, as long as Italy was against America, she hadn't felt right doing so. But, it was 1943, and Italy had switched sides in the conflict. Natively, Zatanna was a pure-blood Italian but, legally, she was an American citizen. Now that Italy was on the winning side, she was fulfilling her wish to help with the war effort. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she'd be sent to England!

It was a dreary day with grey skys and spitting rain. The waves crashed against the sides of the boat and a bell echoed in the wind. Zatanna looked towards the mainland and smiled. Her father, Giovanni, hadn't wanted her to go during a time of war but he couldn't stop her. The boat came to a stop in the port and Zatanna grabbed her suitcase handle. She patted down her grey duffle coat and straightened the dove-shaped crystal-and-pearl broach over her heart. She nervously walked down the gangplank to be met by the house manager of Stinson Manour (an estate being used as a hospital during the war).

"Miss Zatara, I presume?" he said in a proper voice.

"That's me," Zatanna said.

"I am Mr. Graingers of Stinson Manour, please come with me," he said before opening the door of the automobile.

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><p>Zatanna was amazed by the natural beauty of the quaint seaside village but was put off by the army's presence. The automobile trundled down a bumpy forest road which gave her motion sickness from being used to the flat streets of New York. The automobile drove through an open gate and onto a flat drive way. Zatanna looked at Stinson Manour in awe. It was a grand mansion standing in the middle of rich grassy fields surrounded by trees and gardens. She found the sound of the automobile on the gravel odd and felt ready to throw up when it stopped with a jerk.<p>

Zatanna stepped out of the vehicle and looked at the grand front entrance. It was a true marvel, being carved from marble with an oak door.

"Whoa, this place is h-u-g-e; _huge," _she said "This place would be _much_ more classy without the, uh, army trucks,"

Mr. Graingers didn't find this amusing and just led her inside.

The inside was as grand as the outside with red velvet carpeting and pink-tinted marble floors. There were oak podiums with statues on them by expensive paintings. There were marble stairs with ebony railings. The front hall was bigger than her apartment! Despite the classy interior, the sound of pain soon reached Zatanna's ears and the army doctor in charge came to meet her.

"Hello, you must be Zatanna Zatara. I'm Dr. Steadman and, please, follow me to the infirmary," he said, shaking her hand.

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><p>The infirmary was originally the Stinson Manour's dining room but now had rows of beds against two opposing walls, a curtained area for privacy in the corner and trays of medical equipment. The sights of the injuried soldiers was soul-crushing. After quickly getting changed and putting her suitcase in her room, Zatanna got to work. She checked the schedule and discovered she was to help a soldier recover from surgery.<p>

"Private Richard John Grayson, age 19, suffered injury by bomb shrapnel to the right leg and lower spine, currently bedridden," she read from his file "He had surgery 2 weeks ago to remove the shrapnel but is still healing,"

Zatanna closed the file and put it on the bottom of the pile of papers on her clipboard. She walked out of the corridor and to the infirmary. She looked at the patient number and looked for the corresponding bed number. At the bottom of the room, in bed #6, was a raven-haired man with a blanket over his lower half and leaning against a propped up pillow. He was writing in a leather-bound book with a fountain pen. Zatanna approached him but he didn't seem to notice and she coughed for his attention.

"I take it you're my new nurse," he said, not looking up from his writing.

"Yes, I am," she said "I'm Zatanna Zatara,"

"I'm Dick," he said, continuing his writing.

Zatanna sighed and looked at her clipboard. His previous nurses had complained about him being "difficult" or "uncooperative". She definitely had her work cut out with this guy.

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><p><strong> Tell me what you think! I've never set a story in the past before so tell me what you think.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Day 1

All's Fare in Love and War

Chapter 2:

Day #1

Zatanna was up bright and early to check in on her patient. Dick was awake also and writing in that book again.

"Good morning, Private Grayson, how are you feeling today?" she asked, trying to be pleasant despite the fact he was very irritating.

"Îngrozitor," he said, begrudgingly "I mean... awful,"

Zatanna looked at him in a funny way for a second. Was that his native tongue? She had suspected he wasn't natively American but she didn't think he'd offhandedly switch languages. Zatanna had to watch what she said or she'd speak in Italian by mistake.

"O...kay," she said, looking at his chart "I'll just be checking your stitches and changing your bandages,"

"Whatever, I've been through it before," Dick said, a foreign accent slipping off the end of his sentence.

Zatanna pulled his blanket up to reveal his right leg was bandaged up with a slint in place to keep it still. She undid the leather streps to open up the splint and gently lifted his leg out. Dick hissed in pain and bit down on the spine of his book when Zatanna peeled off the bandages that were stuck on with blood.

"I'll have to wash this blood away to check your wounds. It may hurt a bit," she warned him as she took a wet cloth from a basin of water.

Dick hissed as she tried to wash away the blood as gently as possible. The black stitches were shabbily sawn but they seemed secure... for now. Zatanna did the standard tests to see if he was regaining any mobility but Dick didn't seem to be even trying to move his legs.

"Just give up, I'll be bedbound for the rest of my life," he said.

Zatanna saw the dark look in his eyes when he said that and stopped trying to provoke movement out of him. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him with concern after redoing his bandages. His face was stern with a rageful look but it was replaced with a gasp when Zatanna put her hand over his clenched fist. Dick couldn't help but notice how soft her hand was over his pale knuckles.

"Private Grayson, whatever's going on, don't lose hope. A part of a successful recovery is your _will_ to get better. I don't want to give you false hope but it would help if you'd be at least _open_ to the idea of getting better," she said.

A blush nearly crept onto his cheeks but Dick pulled his hand away and opened his book again. Zatanna sighed, turning away, but turned back to look at him and found herself catching the first caption on the page.

_Dear Bruce, Selina, Jason, Tim, Helena and Alfred_

Who were these people? His family? He didn't refer to any of them as "mother" or "father". Unknowingly, she read on.

_ Life at Stinson Manour is terrible. I can't even speak Romanian without criticism from my fellow soldiers. I just want to come home to Gotham but they won't let me._

"Ever heard of privacy, you nosey-parker?"

Zatanna looked up and blushed at the realization she'd been reading a private letter home. With a blush still evident on her face, she got to her feet (muttering apologies) and left the room. Dick leaned back against the propped up pillow and looked back at the pages of unsent letters to his family back in America. He wanted to contact them but he didn't trust a single soul in the place to post it for him.

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><p>Zatanna couldn't believe she just did that! Reading an injured soldier's letter home? What was she thinking?! She wasn't thinking, that was the problem. Zatanna went outside and put her face in her hands. She took a seat on a bench by the kitchen door and took out of her apron her notebook. Needing to get her feelings out, Zatanna took out her mechanical pencil and began to write in her native language.<p>

_Caro Padre,_

_Il mio primo giorno non sta andando molto bene. Il mio paziente è un privato riprendendo da un intervento chirurgico per rimuovere le schegge di bomba gamba ed inferiore della colonna vertebrale. Egli sembra aver rinunciato a recuperare la sua mobilità e è sconvolgente vedere qualcuno in un tale stato. Ho voluto essere un infermiere per tanto tempo e so che mi aiuterà nel mio curriculum ma è difficile vedere che molta sofferenza. Ho davvero bisogno di sentire le tue parole incoraggiamento così scrivere tornare presto. _

_Con amore, _

_Zatanna_

Zatanna closed her notebook up and curled up on the bench to sob. The war was hard on all but, being natively Italian and an American citizen, it was the worst.

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><p><strong> As we all know, when you translate through Google Translate and then translate it back into English, it's usually not the same thing. So, here's Zatanna's letter in English as I originally wrote it:<strong>

_**Dear Father,**_

_**My first day hasn't been going very well. My patient is a private recovering from surgery to remove bomb shrapnel from his leg and lower spine. He seems to have given up on regaining his mobility and it's upsetting to see someone in such a state. I've wanted to be a nurse for so long and I know it'll help me on my resumé but it's hard to see that much suffering. I really need to hear your words of encouragement so write back soon.**_

_**With love,**_

_**Zatanna**_


	3. Chapter 3: In Depth

All's Fare in Love and War

Chapter 3:

In Depth

Zatanna hadn't talked to Dick since that morning but she'd have to eventually considering she was his assigned nurse. Needing some air after only one day, she went for a walk in the village. It was quaint with children playing on the paths but, yet again, the army's presence ruined it. Zatanna watched as two young soldiers tried to flirt with two girls. She didn't like the way the girls were cowering and she stormed forward.

"Hey! Whatcha think ya doin'?" she asked them in a strict voice.

"Another one, ay? Well, I'd say this is my lucky day," said one of the young soldiers "What's your name, sweetheart,"

"None of ya business! It looks to me that these young ladies would like to leave _unaccompanied_ by you two. You've got 5 seconds before I get angry!" Zatanna said "1... 2... 3... 4..." they just looked at her with expressions that showed they weren't taking her seriously "5! You asked you for!"

Zatanna took hold of one of the soldier's wrists and pinned it in between his shoulder blades. He squeeked in pain and his friend ran off.

"You're a sorry excuse for a soldier! I doubt you've even been deployed yet!" she hissed at him before pushing him away.

He stumbled and fell to the ground before scrambling away. Zatanna was still boiling mad but took a deep breath before addressing the two girls she had just saved. "Girls" wasn't really accurate as they seemed either the same age if not older than her.

"I'm Megan Morse, this is Raquel Ervin and you are?" the redhead asked.

"Zatanna Zatara, I'm working at Stinson Manour as a nurse," said Zatanna.

"Stinson Manour? I'm a kitchen maid there!" Megan exclaimed "You must have only just arrived! Raquel, here, works in the factory two towns over. We've been in England for 6 months now,"

Zatanna smiled as Megan continued to go on and on and on. She looked at Raquel, who gave her a look that meant this was normal for Megan. Raquel was African-American with one of those modern pixie cuts and Megan had auburn hair and matching auburn eyes.

"You know, at midnight every night, me and my friend, Artemis, get a midnight snack in the kitchen. You should join us tonight," Megan said.

Zatanna thought about it. It would be nice to talk things out while she waited for her father to reply. Why not?

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><p>Dick stared directly upwards as he lay back in bed with his arms crossed behind his head. The ceiling was the most interesting thing in the room currently. He could still hear the roar of the explosion and the burning numbness of when the shrapnel entered him. Dick was all about mechanics and inventions. He had joined the army to work in communications but a mix up with his files got him on the front lines. That wasn't the most painful part though... during those moments of blinding light and sudden numbness he had heard a voice singing. The voice he recognized as his deceased mother's when she sang him to sleep when he was young. To hear her sweet voice again after 10 years only to suddenly find himself bleeding and broken surrounded by the bodies of his fellow soldiers... it was torturous.<p>

"I wonder how everyone else is?" Dick wondered aloud.

He remembered the tears Selina had shed and the proud (yet worried) look on Bruce's face the day he left. Helena had been standing in silence with a pout on her 7-year-old face. Jason had grudgingly wished him luck since he had wanted to enroll but was "too young" to at age 16. Tim had been so worried and made him promise to come back in one piece. And Alfred? Alfred had fought in World War I about 30 years ago and had given Dick his *1914-15 Star and his (very) old pocket-sized copy of the bible to keep close. He still had those war treasures hidden under his pillow.

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><p><strong>*The 1914-15 Star was a medal given to soldiers who served between 1914 and 1915 who hadn't already qualified for the 1914 Star.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Not So Bad

**I've just realized I misspelled "fare", oopsies! Give me a break, I'm Dyslexic. But the correct spelling just doesn't feel right for this so I'm keeping it! Call it poetic licence, if you must.**

** Anyways, on with the chapter!**

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><p><span>All's Fare in Love and War<span>

Chapter 4:

Not So Bad

Zatanna was as excited as a school girl for her midnight meeting with Megan and this "Artemis" she spoke of. When she entered the abandoned kitchen, she saw a woman with a crazy amount of golden hair and tanned skin marred by the presence of ash and soot. The woman turned to her to reveal her eyes were pointed and a stormy grey colour.

"You must be Zatanna. Megan said you'd be joining us," the woman said "I'm Artemis, Artemis Crock,"

Zatanna retreated to the doorway at the mere presence Artemis gave off. But, the Italian woman had inherited her mother's judgement of character and it told her Artemis was a good person.

"H-Hi, I-I'm Zatanna..." she looked sheepish "But, you knew that..."

Artemis beckoned her over and Zatanna timidly took a seat across the table from her.

"So... you're Artemis?" Zatanna asked and she nodded "What's your story? You don't seem to be English or American,"

"I'm Vietnamese on my mother's side and French on my father's but I'm under the guardianship of Oliver Queen and his wife, Dinah Queen," Artemis said "I came to England in search of my fiance, Wally, he disappeared a few months ago while fighting in the war,"

Zatanna looked at her with sympathy when Megan came through the door.

"Hey, girls!" she exclaimed "I've brought cake with strawberries!"

Zatanna always did have a sweet tooth and loved Victorian sponge with strawberries. It would have been even better if they had cream but that was hard to come by during these times of war. So were strawberries but Megan said she had connections.

"What kind of connections?" Zatanna asked her new friend.

"Oh, well, I have a half-brother named Garfield and he got evacuated so I decided to come along and get a job in the village he was sent. There's a farm hand that works for the family that took him in and... hmm..." and Megan went off into a daydream.

"She gets like this when she thinks about him," said Artemis "His name's Conner Kent and Megan's over the hill in love with him but he acts stoic around everyone,"

"That's not true!" Megan suddenly exclaimed, defending him "He's just distant..."

Artemis snorted and took a sip of her water.

"What about you, Zatanna? Anyone waiting for you back in America?" the blonde asked.

"Not really. It's just been me and my dad since my mother died," said Zatanna "I have a cousin and uncle back in..." she caught herself from revealing she was natively Italian "back in... New York but I haven't seen them in years..."

As they talked, Zatanna began thinking about her cousin, Zachary, and hoped they were safe back in Rome. They used to exchanged letters but that stopped when the war began. Now that she thought about it, she really missed him.

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><p>The next day, Zatanna entered the infirmary to see Dick sitting up and eating some porridge. She took a deep breath and approached him. He looked up at her and snorted.<p>

"You haven't quit?" Dick asked, putting the bowl of porridge aside and laying back "Wow, you must be off your rocker,"

"Or maybe I think even jerks like you deserve treatment!" Zatanna exclaimed at him before taking a deep breath "So... how has your leg been? Any problems?"

"Except that its completely useless? Fine," Dick said "Look, this will be easier if you just quit and leave me alone! Unless you want to read my private letters again!"

Zatanna was startled to say the least.

"Well, I'm not a quitter and you shouldn't be either! How can you just give-up on walking? If you give-up so easily, how did you get into the army?!" she shouted at him.

"Give-up? Give-up?! You think I've given up?!" Dick shouted back "Let me tell you something, lady, I never give-up without a fight! I tried! But all I was ever told was that I'd never walk again! You can't say I've given up when I've already lost!"

They both glared at each other and didn't even realize everyone else had gone quiet.

"That's a no good Romanian for you. Yelling at a lady... I can't believe he was even allowed into the army," said another soldier and everyone else agreed.

Zatanna looked at Dick and saw the look of sadness in his eyes. She looked sad for him but realized they'd treat her the same had Italy not switched sides.

"You know what? You're all terrible people!" she shouted which quietened them all "If anything, Private Grayson was braver than you all for not only signing up but because he knew he'd be fighting against his homeland! He knew how you'd treat him but he believed he was fighting for the right side so willingly indured it! Now he's been injured and all you can do is criticize him for something he couldn't control?!"

They all stared at her in shock, especially Dick. Only his adoptive family had defended his nationality since (and even before) the war started. Still fuming with rage, Zatanna went through the basic routine of checking Dick's recovery. Still in a rage, she stormed out of the room. Dick sat back with a smirk at the others reactions to Zatanna's speech. Then it sunk in how she'd defended him. No one had done that in a long time... maybe she wasn't so bad.

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><p><strong>I am SO sorry for not updating! As an apology, I'll give everyone who reviews this chapter a shout-out! So you better review :)<strong>

**If you have an idea for this story, please review because I want this to be a kinda long story. 20 chapters or something...**

**Please review, favourite and follow!**

**-Noto**


	5. Chapter 5: Lost Treasures

**Shout-outs to:**

**BluemoonAR**

**CaptainBeer**

**WolfEffect**

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><p><span>All's Fare in Love and War<span>

Chapter 5:

Lost Treasures

Over the course of the following week, Dick actually began opening up to Zatanna. Although he still didn't think he'd ever recover, he began having proper conversations with her. Zatanna was surprised to learn he wasn't the jerk she had initially thought. Actually, he was quite sweet and kind and remarkably intelligent. You could even say the two were beginning to be unlikely friends.

"Good morning, Dick, sleep well?" Zatanna asked as she approached him.

"Eh, I've had better sleeps," Dick answered but with a smile "How about you? Got a letter back from your father yet?"

"Yes, actually, but I've sent one that says you're not as much of a jerk as I thought," she answered as she checked his injuries.

"Shucks, Zatanna, you're gonna make me blush," he responded with a mock smile.

Zatanna gave him a "seriously?" look before noticing a breakfast stain on his pillowcase.

"Dick, don't you know how to eat? You got porridge on your bedding. I'm gonna have to wash it now," she complained but with a smile.

Dick looked at her and, somehow, a small blush appeared on his cheeks. Without a word, he shifted out of the way and gave her the room to pull his pillowcase off. His blush deepened when she bent over to do so. Dick gulped as the thought of her smile came to mind.

_"She's actually really pretty, sweet too..." _he thought _"Uh... What am I thinking?"_

"Hey, what's this?" Zatanna asked, picking up the 1914-15 Star "My father has one of these,"

"Uh..." Dick said "I-It belongs to a family friend of mine named Alfred. He gave it to me the day I left..."

_"Alfred? That was one of the names he addressed his letter too," _thought Zatanna _"I wonder who the others are,"_

"Here... It's obviously very important," she said, passing it back to him "Keep it safe,"

Dick nodded and looked down at it. It reminded him of home and made him smile just a bit brighter.

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><p>"WHERE IS IT?!" Zatanna heard from the infirmary the next morning.<p>

She entered to see Dick was the one yelling.

"Nurse Zatara! There you are! Control your patient!" ordered Dr. Steadman.

Zatanna ran to him and got his attention. Dick was leaning right out of bed, which wasn't good for his injuries, and had tipped over some equipment. She saw the rageful look in his eyes and the desperation.

"Dick, what's wrong?" Zatanna gently asked him "What's gone? Dick, you can't be leaning out of bed like this. It's not good for your recovery. Please, calm down and talk to me..."

Dick slowly got back into bed and Zatanna knelt beside him.

"My... my 1914-15 Star... its missing..." he said.

"Okay, I'll check under the bed for it and you stay put," Zatanna responded.

Dick nodded in reply and she got on her hands and knees. She looked under the bed to see absolutely nothing there. Zatanna sat up again and Dick looked at her with expectancy.

"Not there," she responded "I'm not sure where it could have got to,"

Dick clenched his fist, clawing at the bedding beneath him. Zatanna saw the look of distress in his eyes but also a look of sadness. It must have been very sentimental to him...

"Don't worry," she said, taking his hand "I'll find it. I promise,"

Dick looked up at her and looked into her eyes. He could tell she was telling the truth.

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><p><strong> Please review or I'll... uh... get Hatori to erase your memories! Points if you name that anime ;p<strong>


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